Emergency Request - Am I Screwed? (Head Problem)

[mgmshar]

I'm in the middle of doing a head gasket job on my GN. The left head is already installed and torqued. As I was placing the right head on the engine, is slipped out of my hands and fell onto the block. One of the dowels put a little dent in the fire face of the head. Of course, the dent is positioned EXACTLY where the fire ring (the still metal part) of the Fel-Pro 9441 is. In other words, when I lay the gasket on the head, the dent is located right underneath the metal fire ring on number 6 cylinder.

The dent is deep enough that I can easily feel it with my finger. I've attached some photos below.

Opinions? Am I totally screwed here? I got that sinking feeling that I just screwed up pretty bad...

Trying to get this done this week, so I would appreciate quick replies. If anybody would rather PM me to spare their own embarassment (maybe somebody else did the same thing?), feel free.

Thanks a bunch,

 

[chopped39]

Bring it to the machine shop and see what they say. I would not put that on like that. They might be able to weld it or something.

 

[turbofabricator]

Nothing a quick pass on a surfacer wont fix. If it is directly under the fire ring, then good catch and have it milled out.

 

[coach]

Run a stone or file over it to make sure its flush. I dont think your too bad off. It looks like its just inside the sealing ring. You can take it and have a pro look at it if you want to feel safe. If you could measure how deep it is, that would tell me more. A dot of weld and a file would fix it for sure. No need to have it machined, I highly doubt its more then .003-.004 deep at best.

:biggrin:

 

[mgmshar]

For those of us who haven't had to do this yet...

If I decide to have the heads cut (they are about .002" warped, anyway), how much material can I have removed before things like intake manifolds won't fit any more? I'm thinking I can have .003" or so shaved off the heads to cure the warp and remove my big mistake...

Thanks,

PS: Anybody know a good machine shop in the Chicago or NWI area???

 

[turbofabricator]

You can usually take. 010" off with out too much intake issues. Typical surface job will cut. 005" off. If the dent is directly below the fire ring I would have it surfaced. The factory machine job is pretty poor to begin with. Make sure your machinist has modern surfacer and can hold a VERY fine surface finish. The smoother the better.